Card ejecting mechanism

ABSTRACT

A card forcible ejection mechanism used to forcibly discharge a card retained in a card reader can be set in a small space and can be attached during a post-assembling step. The mechanism has a carriage which can move along a carriage direction of a card and is provided separately from a card carrying device and at least one claw which is provided on the carriage and can protrude/retract to/from a card carriage path: A carriage moving device for moving the carriage to a claw retracing position and a claw protruding position, and a claw protruding/retracting mechanism which retracts the claw from the card carriage path when the carriage is placed at the claw retracting position and protrudes the claw to the card carriage path when the carriage is placed at the claw protruding position, are also provided.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a card forcible ejection mechanismprovided to a card reader using a card having a magnetic stripe, an ICcard, or various kinds of cards on which information can be recorded.More particularly, the present invention relates,to a card forcibleejection mechanism used to forcibly eject a card retained inside a cardreader.

BACKGROUND ART

If a card to be inserted into a card reader is a normal card without adeformation or a stain, carriage of the card in the card reader can beperformed without causing any problem. However, when a deformed card ora stained card is inserted into the card reader, a so called jam thatthe card is retained in a card carriage path may occur, and the cardcannot be processed in some cases.

Further, even in case of a normal card, the jam may occur if a personwho tries to steal any other person's card manipulates a part of thecard reader in the vicinity of a card insertion opening thereof. In thiscase, even if the card generates the jam and the card owner leavesthere, it is difficult to take out the card when a shutter of the cardinsertion opening is completely closed. Therefore, a possibility of atheft is small. However, when the card stays in a movement range of theshutter and the shutter cannot closes because it is in contact with thecard, the card may be possibly taken out after the card owner leavesthere.

Thus, a card forcible ejection mechanism has been conventionallyprovided in the card reader on the assumption that the card generatesthe jam. FIG. 11 shows an example of the conventional card forcibleejection mechanism in the card reader. In the drawing, three pairs ofcarriage rollers 82, 84 and 86 are arranged from a card insertionopening 88 side toward an inner side in the mentioned order atappropriately intervals with a card carriage path 80 between each pair.Therefore, a card inserted from the card insertion opening 88 issequentially carried toward the inner side by the carriage roller pairs82, 84 and 86, and predetermined processing, i.e., reading or writing ofrecording information is carried out.

A card forcible ejection mechanism is provided along the entire area ofthe card carriage path 80 below the card carriage path 80. This cardforcible ejection mechanism includes: sprockets 92 and 94 arranged so asto be opposed to each other on the card insertion opening 88 side andthe inner side of the card carriage path 80 and; a chain 90 wound aroundthe respective sprockets 92 and 94; and a craw 91 disposed to a part ofthe chain 90. The upper portion of the chain 90 is positioned inparallel with the card carriage path 80 in the vicinity of the cardcarriage path 80.

When the card is not retained, the chain 90 is not driven, and the craw91 is retracted from the card carriage path 80 as shown in FIG. 11. Whenit is detected that the card generated the jam, at least one of thesprockets 92 and 94 is rotated and driven, the chain 90 is turned, thecraw 91 is raised in the card carriage path 80, and the card causing thejam is forcibly thrusted toward the card insertion opening 88 or therear side.

Here, when the sprockets 92 and 94 are rotated in the clockwisedirection in the drawing at the time of occurrence of the jam, the cardis ejected from the card insertion opening 88. Furthermore, when thesprockets 92 and 94 are rotated in the counterclockwise direction in thedrawing, the card is carried to a card disposition box (not shown)provided on the inner side of the card reader to be collected.

However, in the above-described card forcible ejection mechanism, sincethe chain 90 is provided over the entire area of the card carriage path80 in order to feed the card retained in the card carriage path 80 tothe card insertion opening 88 or the card disposition box, an emptyspace may be insufficient and the card forcible ejection mechanism maynot be provided depending on a structure of the card reader. Moreover,since the card forcible ejection mechanism has a large size that itextends over the entire area of the card carriage path 80, it is verydifficult to provide this mechanism to the card reader on apost-assembling step as an option.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cardforcible ejection mechanism which can be installed in a small space andprovided to a card reader on a post-assembling step as an option.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

To achieve this aim, according to the present invention, there isprovided a card forcible ejection mechanism which is provided to a cardreader including a card carrying means for carrying a card inserted froma card insertion opening in a card carriage path, and forcibly ejectsthe card retained in the card carriage path, comprising: a carriagewhich is movable in a carriage direction of the card and providedseparately from the card carrying means; at least one claw which isprovided to the carriage and can protrude/retract to/from the cardcarriage path; a carriage moving means for moving the carriage to a clawretracting position and a claw protruding position; and a clawprotruding/retracting mechanism which retracts the claw from the cardcarriage path when the carriage is positioned at the claw retractingposition and protrudes the claw in the card carriage path when thecarriage is positioned at the claw protruding position.

Therefore, since the card forcible ejection mechanism can be set only inthe vicinity of the card insertion opening so as to discharge the cardretained in the card reader to the card insertion opening, the cardforcible ejection mechanism does not have to be provided over the entirecard carriage path, thereby reducing the card forcible ejectionmechanism in size. Accordingly, even if the card reader with a smallempty space is used, the card forcible ejection mechanism can beprovided thereto.

Moreover, the entire card forcible ejection mechanism according to thepresent invention is realized as a unit, and it is attached to the cardreader. In this case, it can be provided to the card reader on apost-assembling step as an option.

Additionally, in the present invention, the card carrying means includescarriage rollers, and the entire card forcible ejection mechanism may beaccommodated between the adjacent carriage rollers in the carriagedirection. In this case, the card forcible ejection mechanism realizedas a unit can be accommodated within the card reader without producing awasteful space. Therefore, the card reader can be reduced in size.

Further, in the present invention, the shutter which opens and closesthe card insertion opening is provided, and the claw protruding positionis arranged on the shutter side away from the claw retracting positionso that the card may be forcibly discharged only when the shutter cannotbe closed because it is in contact with the retained card.

In this case, since discharging the card only when the retained cardobstructs the closing operation of the shutter can suffice, the cardforcible ejection mechanism can be provided only in the vicinity of theshutter. As a result, the card forcible ejection mechanism does not haveto be provided over the entire card carriage path, and the cardforcible-ejection mechanism can be reduced in size.

Further, since the retained card is immediately discharged and returnedto a user when the shutter is not closed, it is possible to prevent astranger from stealing the card when the card is retained with theshutter being not closed and a user walks away from the card reader.

Furthermore, in the present invention, the claw retracted from the cardcarriage path and the shutter may be separated from each other by adistance corresponding to a length of at least one card in the carriagedirection. In this case, the claw can be necessarily brought intocontact with a rear end of the card retained at a position of theshutter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a card reader on which a cardforcible ejection mechanism according to the present invention ismounted;

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a card forcible ejection mechanism;

FIG. 3 is a plane view showing a drive system of pulleys of a carriagemoving means;

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a carriage and a claw;

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the carriage and the claw;

FIG. 6 is a plane view showing a card forcible ejection mechanism;

FIG. 7 is a side view showing another embodiment of a card forcibleejection mechanism;

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a state that the carriage of the cardforcible ejection mechanism depicted in FIG. 7 is placed at a clawretracting position;

FIG. 9 is a side view showing a state that the claw of the card forcibleejection mechanism depicted in FIG. 7 is protruding to the card carriagepath;

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a state lo that the claw of the cardforcible ejection mechanism depicted in FIG. 7 thrusts a card; and

FIG. 11 is a side view showing a conventional card forcible ejectionmechanism.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A structure of the present invention will now be described in detailhereinafter based on an example of the illustrated mode. FIGS. 1 to 6show an embodiment of a card forcible ejection mechanism 1 according tothe present invention. This card forcible ejection mechanism 1 isprovided to a card reader 6 including a card carrying means 5 forcarrying a card 3 inserted from a card inserting opening 2 in a cardcarriage path 4, and forcibly ejects the card 3 retained in the cardcarriage path 4. This card forcible ejection mechanism 1 includes acarriage 7 which can move in a carriage direction of the card 3 and isprovided separately from the card carrying means 5, at least one claw 8which can protrude/retract to/from the card carriage path 4, carriagemoving means 9 for moving the carriage 7, and a clawprotruding/retracting mechanism 10 which protrudes/retracts the clawto/from the card carriage path 4. Further, the entire card forcibleejection mechanism 1 is realized as a unit, and can be attached to thecard reader 6. Therefore, the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 can beattached to the card reader 6 on a post-assembling step as an option.Furthermore, since the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 can be setonly in the vicinity of the card insertion opening 2 so that the card 3retained in the card reader 6 can be discharged from the card insertionopening 2, the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 does not have to beprovided over the entire card carriage path 4, thereby reducing the cardforcible ejection mechanism 1 in size. In this embodiment, the cardforcible ejection mechanism 1 is arranged on an upper side of the cardcarriage path 4.

The carriage moving means 9 moves the carriage 7 to a claw retractingposition 11 and a claw protruding position 12. The claw retractingposition 11 of the carriage 7 is such a position as that the claw 8 isretracted from the card carriage path 4. Moreover, the claw protrudingposition 12 of the carriage 7 is such a position as that the claw 8protrudes to the card carriage path 4. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, thiscarriage moving means 9 includes pulleys 13 and 13 which have the samediameter and are arranged at two positions, i.e., the vicinity of thecard insertion opening 2 and the inner side parallel to the cardcarriage path 4, a wire 14 which are stretched around the respectivepulleys 13 and 13 and to which the carriage 7 is attached, a gear 16which meshes with a gear portion 15 of one pulley 13, and a drive motor18 having a pinion 17 which meshes with the gear 16. The pulleys 13, thegear 16 and the drive motor. 18 are attached to a frame 19. Therefore,the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 consists of components which aredirectly or indirectly disposed to the frame 19, and the entire cardforcible ejection mechanism 1 can be handled as a unit.

As the drive motor 18, a stepping motor is adopted. However, the presentinvention is not restricted thereto, and a direct-current motor may beemployed as the drive motor 18. The wire 14 is wound around each pulley13 for a plurality of number of turns. As a result, slippage of the wire14 relative to the pulleys 13 can be avoided.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the carriage 7 includes a fixed groove 20which is fixed to a linear portion 14 a of the wire 14 on the cardcarriage path 4 side, and a guide hole 21 provided to a linear portion14 b of the wire 14 on the opposite side so as to be capable of sliding.Furthermore, the linear portion 14 a of the wire 14 on the card carriagepath 4 side is fitted in and fixed to the fixed groove 20 of thecarriage 7, and the linear portion 14 b of the wire 14 on the oppositeside pierces the guide hole 21 of the carriage 7 so as to be capable ofsliding. As a result, since the carriage 7 is supported by the parallelwire 14, rotation is avoided, and the carriage 7 is moved in accordancewith movement of the linear portion 14 a of the wire 14 on the cardcarriage path 4 side while maintaining a standing posture.

One claw 8 is provided to the carriage 7. In this embodiment, one claw 8is provided, but the present invention is not restricted thereto. Theclaw 8 is rotatably attached to the carriage 7 around a support shaft22. To an end portion of the claw 8 are formed a contact portion 8 awhich comes into contact with a rear end 3 a of the card 3 and aprotrusion 8 b which prevents the card 3 which is in contact with thecontact portion 8 a from slipping and coming off. Moreover, arestriction hole 23 which is a through hole having an arc shape with thesupport shaft 22 as the center is formed to a part of the claw 8. Arestriction pin 24 fixed to the carriage 7 is inserted into thisrestriction hole 23. Therefore, a rotation range of the claw 8 is arange reaching a state that the end portion of the restriction hole 23comes into contact with the restriction pin 24.

A craw protruding/retracting mechanism 10 retracts the claw 8 from thecard carriage path 4 when the carriage 7 is placed at a claw retractingposition 11, and protrudes the claw 8 to the card carriage path 4 whenthe claw 8 is placed at a claw protruding position 12. This clawprotruding/retracting mechanism 10 includes an impetus giving spring 25which is a torsion coil spring to press the claw 8 in a direction alongwhich the claw 8 protrudes to the card carriage path 4 and is providedto the support shaft 22 of the claw 8, a contact portion 26 integrallyformed with the claw 8, and an impingement end 27 which is formed to theframe 19 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 and comes into contact with thecontact portion 26 and retracts the claw 8 from the card carriage path 4when the carriage 7 is placed at the claw retracting position 11.Therefore, when the carriage 7 is placed at the claw protruding position12, since the contact portion 26 and the impingement end 27 aredistanced from each other, the claw 8 is caused to protrude to the cardcarriage path 4 by the impetus giving spring 25. Moreover, when thecarriage 7 is placed at the claw retracting position 11, since thecontact portion 26 comes into contact with the impingement end 27, theclaw 8 is rotated against the impetus giving spring 25 and retractedfrom the card carriage path 4.

As shown in FIG. 1, the card carrying means 5 includes drive rollers 28and pad rollers 29 which are arranged so as to be opposed to each otherwith the card carriage path 4 therebetween, and a drive motor 30 coupledwith the drive rollers 28 through a belt (not shown). Additionally, aposition sensor (not shown) which detects a position of the card 3 isprovided to the card carriage path 4.

Further, the entire cad forcible ejection mechanism 1 is accommodatedbetween the roller pairs 28 and 29 which are adjacent to each other inthe carriage direction. Therefore, the card forcible ejection mechanism1 realized as a unit can be accommodated in the card reader 6 withoutmaking a wasteful space, thereby restricting an increase in size of thecard reader 6.

Furthermore, a shutter 31 which opens/closes the card insertion opening2 is provided to this card reader 6. Moreover, the claw protrudingposition 12 is arranged on the shutter 31 side away from the clawretracting position 11. Additionally, this card forcible ejectionmechanism 1 forcibly ejects the card 3 when the shutter 31 is in contactwith the retained card 3 and cannot be closed. Therefore, the cardforcible ejection mechanism 1 can be provided only in the vicinity ofthe shutter 31, and the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 does not haveto be provided over the entire card carriage path 4, thereby reducing asize of the card forcible ejection mechanism 1. Further, in cases wherethe card 3 is retained with the shutter 31 being closed, if the rear end3 a of the card 3 is in the operation range of the claw 8, the shutter31 is opened to operate the card forcible ejection mechanism 1, and thecard 3 is discharged.

Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the claw 8 retracted from thecard carriage path 4 and the shutter 31 are separated from each other bya distance corresponding to a length L of at least one card 3 in thecarriage direction. Therefore, the claw 8 can be assuredly brought intocontact with the rear end 3 a of the retained card 3 which overlaps aposition of the shutter 31. In this embodiment L is determined as alength of one card 3. Thus, the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 canbe prevented from being increased in size. However, the length of onecard 3 not only means a card length in the strict sense but includes alength obtained by adding a tolerance to this length.

The operation of the above-described card forcible ejection mechanism 1will now be described.

When the card reader 6 is in the standby state, the carriage 7 of thecard forcible ejection mechanism 7 is placed at the claw retractingposition 11, and the claw 8 is retracted from the card carriage path 4as indicated by solid lines in FIGS. 1 and 2. Then, when the card 3 isinserted into the card insertion opening 2, the card 3 is detected bythe position sensor and carried to the inner side by the card carryingmeans 5. At this moment, since the claw 8 is retracted from the cardcarriage path 4, the card 3 can pass through the card carriage path 4without coming into contact with the claw 8. Moreover, when the entirecard 3 is taken into the card reader 6, the shutter 31 is closed.

Then, when the card 3 is retained in the card carriage path 4 becausethe card 3 has a defect such as a bend or a person who tries to steal astranger's card 3 manipulated the card reader 6, retention of the card 3is detected from the operation state of the drive motor 30 and thedetection state of the position sensor. At this moment, if it isdetected that the card 3 is placed at a position overlapping the shutter31 and the shutter 31 should be closed but it is actually opened, it isjudged that the shutter 31 is in contact with the card 3 and cannot beclosed, and the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 is operated.Alternatively, if it is detected that the shutter 31 is closed and therear end 3 a of the card 3 is within the operation range of the claw 8,the shutter 31 is opened, and the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 isoperated.

In the card forcible ejection mechanism 1, the drive motor 18 isoperated to rotate the wire 14 through the gear 16 and the pulleys 13,and moves the carriage 7 from the claw retracting position 11 to theclaw protruding position 12. As a result, as indicated by chaindouble-dashed lines in FIGS. 1 and 2, the claw 8 protrudes to the cardcarriage path 4 and comes into contact with the rear end 3 a of the card3, thereby discharging the card 3 from the card insertion opening 2.Therefore, since the card 3 retained in the state that the shutter 31 isnot closed is immediately discharged and returned to a user, it ispossible to prevent the card 3 from being retained with the shutter 3being not closed and a stranger from stealing the card 3 when the userwalks away from the card reader 6.

As described above, according to the card forcible ejection mechanism 1of this embodiment, since the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 isprovided only in the vicinity of the card insertion opening 2, the cardforcible ejection mechanism 1 can be reduced in size as compared with acase that the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 is provided over theentire card carriage path 4 like the prior art.

It is to be noted that the above-described embodiment is an example ofthe preferred mode of the present invention, but the present inventionis not restricted thereto, and various modifications can be carried out.For example, although the claw 8 retracted from the card carriage path 4and the shutter 31 are arranged so as to be separated from each other bya distance corresponding to a length L of one card 3 in this embodiment,the present invention is not restricted thereto, and any other lengthmay be adopted. For example, the length L may be set so as to extend theentire area of the card carriage path 4, or it may be set shorter thanthe card length.

Furthermore, although the wire 14 is wound around the pulleys 13 for aplurality of number of turns in this embodiment, the present inventionis not restricted thereto, and teeth may be provided to each pulley 13and a timing belt may be wound therearound. In this case, slippage ofeach pulley 13 and the wire 14 can be likewise avoided. Moreover, thepresent invention is not restricted to winding the wire 14 or the timingbelt around the pulleys 13, and a part of the wire 14 may be fixed tothe pulleys 13. In this case, a fixing position is determined so as toassure a necessary operation range of the carriage 7. According to this,slippage of the wire 14 can be further suppressed.

Additionally, in each of the foregoing embodiments, although thecarriage 7 is guided to the linear portion 14 b which is away from thecard carriage path 4 of the wire 14 and the posture is maintained, thepresent invention is not restricted thereto, and a guide shaft parallelto the card carriage path 4 may be provided so that the carriage 7 canbe guided thereto.

Further, in the foregoing embodiments, although the card forcibleejection mechanism 1 is arranged on the upper side of the card carriagepath 4, the present invention is not restricted thereto, and the cardforcible ejection mechanism 1 may be arranged on the lower side of thecard carriage path 4.

Furthermore, in the foregoing embodiments, although the card forcibleejection mechanism 1 is provided in the vicinity of the card insertionopening 2, it may be provided in the vicinity of a card disposition box(not shown) provided on the inner side of the card reader 6 according tocircumstances. In this case, the claw protruding position 12 is arrangedon the card disposition box side away from the claw retracting position11. As a result, when the card 3 is retracted in the inner part of thecard reader 6, the card 3 can be discharged into the card dispositionbox.

Furthermore, in the foregoing embodiments, the shutter 31 is opened andthe card 3 is discharged when the card 3 is retained if the shutter 31is closed and the rear end 3 a of the card 3 is in the operation rangeof the claw 8. However, the present invention is not restricted thereto,and the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 may not be operated when theshutter 31 is closed even though retention of the card 3 is detected. Inthis case, since the shutter 31 is closed and stealing the card 3 isvery difficult, a possibility of a theft is small even though the cardforcible ejection mechanism 1 is not operated.

Moreover, although the carriage 7 is supported by the wire 14 whichmoves the carriage 7 so as to be capable of sliding in each of theforegoing embodiments, a support structure of the carriage 7 is notrestricted thereto. For example, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, the carriage7 may be supported by a guide rail 32 fixed to the frame 19 so as to becapable of sliding.

In this case, the carriage 7 includes respective pairs of rollers 33,i.e., four sets of rollers in total, capable of rotating with the guiderail 32 therebetween, which are distanced from each other on the rightand left sides in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 32.Further, the carriage 7 includes a fixed piece 34 fixed to the wire 14of carriage moving means (not shown in FIGS. 7 to 10) 9. It is to benoted that a pair of the rollers 33 are provided so as to sandwich theguide rail 32 in this embodiment, the present invention is notrestricted thereto, and it is good enough to provide at least therollers 33 on which a reactive force acts when the claw 8 discharges thecard 3, i.e., the roller 33 close to the claw 8 which is a roller 33 aset on the claw 8 side with the guide rail 32 therebetween, and theroller 33 away from the claw 8 which is a roller 33 d set on a sideopposite to the claw 8 with the guide rail 32 therebetween. In thiscase, the carriage 7 can be supported by the wire 14 and the rollers 33a and 33 d without being inclined, and the reactive force can bereceived by the rollers 33 a and 33 d when forcibly discharging the card3.

Further, the claw 8 which protrudes/retracts to/from the card carriagepath 4 by rotation is supported to this carriage 7. The claw 8 has anend directed toward the card insertion opening 2 away from the supportshaft 22, and its end is determined as a contact portion 8 a which isupwardly inclined so as to slightly give a force in a direction alongwhich it lifts up the card 3 from the card carriage path 4. The contactportion 8 a generates a force acting to cause the claw 8 to further biteinto the card 3 when it comes into contact wit the rear end portion 3 aof the card 3.

The claw protruding/retracting mechanism 10 which protrudes/retractsthis claw 8 to/from the card carriage path 4 includes at least an arm 35which is linked with the claw 8 and rotates the claw 8, an impetusgiving spring 25 which rotates the arm 35 and constantly presses theclaw 8 in a direction along which the claw 8 protrudes to the cardcarriage path 4, and an impingement end 27 which counter-rotates the arm35 against the impetus giving spring 25 and retracts the claw 8 from thecard carriage path 4 when the carriage 7 moves to the claw retractingposition 11. The claw 8 which is rotatably held to the carriage 7 has aslot 40, inserts a pin 41 connected with the arm 35 into the slot 40 androtates the claw 8 by rotation of the arm 35. Furthermore, the arm 35 isrotatably attached to the carriage 7 by a support shaft 36, andconstantly pressed in a direction along which it protrudes toward thecard carriage path 4 by the impetus giving spring 25 constituted of ahelical coil spring wound around the support shaft 36. The impetusgiving spring 25 has one end being in contact with a stopper 42 providedto the carriage 7 and the other end being contact with the contactportion 26 integrally formed to the arm 35, and gives an impetus so asto protrude the arm 35 or the claw 8 to the card carriage path 4.Moreover, the guide rail 32 includes an impingement end 27 which comesinto contact with the contact portion 26 of the arm 35 and turns theimpetus giving spring 25 in a direction of twisting, i.e., a directionalong which the claw 8 is retracted from the card carriage path 4 whenthe carriage 7 is placed at the claw retracting position 11.

Therefore, the carriage 7, the claw 8 and the arm 35 form a link througha slider (consisting of a slot 40 and a connecting pin 41), and the claw8 is forcibly rotated by rotation of the arm 35. Additionally, when thecarriage 7 is placed at the claw protruding position 12 (FIGS. 9 and10), since the contact portion 26 and the impingement end 27 aredistanced from each other, the impetus of the impetus giving spring 25is transmitted to the claw 8 through the arm 35, and the claw 8 iscaused to protrude to the card carriage path 4. Further, when thecarriage 7 is placed at the claw retracting position 11 (FIG. 8), sincethe contact portion 26 comes into contact with the impingement end 27,the arm 35 is rotated against the impetus giving spring 25, and the claw8 is retracted from the card carriage path 4.

Furthermore, to each stroke end of the carriage 7 are provided aretracting position sensor 37 which detects that the carriage 7 isplaced at the claw retracting position 11 and a protruding positionsensor 38 which detects that the carriage 7 is placed on the sideclosest to the card insertion opening 2 side at the claw protrudingposition 12. In this embodiment, a reflecting type photoelectric switchis used as each of the sensors 37 and 38. Here, the retracting positionsensor 37 is provided so as to be capable of confirming that thecarriage 7 is placed at the claw retracting position 11 and also theclaw 8 is retracted. That is, a through hole 39 is provided to thecarriage 7 in such a manner that it overlaps the claw 8 in a rotary axisdirection at a position of the claw 8 (shown in FIG. 8) retracted fromthe card carriage path 4, and that it does not overlap the claw in therotary axis direction at a position of the claw 8 (FIG. 9) protruding tothe card carriage path 4, and presence/absence of the claw 8 andexistence of the carriage 7 are detected by utilizing a fact that alight ray passing via this through hole 39 is reflected by the claw 8and returns. It is preferable that at least a surface of the carriage 7around the through hole 39 is formed as a non-reflecting surfaceblackened by applying, e.g., a coating material so as to prevent thelight from the photoelectric switch from being reflected. Since there isadopted the retracting position sensor 37 having a structure to confirmexistence of the claw 8 via the through hole 39, it is possible todetect, e.g., that the claw 8 cannot be retracted from the card carriagepath 4 for some reason even if the carriage 7 is placed at the clawretracting position 11 or that the claw 8 falls off or intentionallyremoved. Therefore, it is possible to take a countermeasure to, e.g.,stop using the card reader by performing a control such as keeping theclosed state of the shutter mechanism at the card insertion opening, orprevent erroneous detection that the claw 8 is retracted from the cardcarriage path 4.

The operation of this card forcible ejection mechanism 1 will now bedescribed hereinafter. As shown in FIG. 8, when the carriage 7 is placedat the claw retracting position 11, since the contact portion 26 of thearm 35 comes into contact with the impingement end 27 of the guide rail32, the arm 35 is rotated against the impetus giving spring 25, and theclaw 8 is retracted from the card carriage path 4. At this moment, theretracting position sensor 37 detects the retraction of the claw 8 byutilizing the light ray passing through the through hole 39 of thecarriage 7. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, when the carriage 7 moves bymovement of the wire 14 and a pressing force from the contact portion 26to the impingement end 27 is weakened, the arm 35 is rotated by theimpetus of the impetus giving spring 25, and the claw 8 protrudes to thecard carriage path 4. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 10, the claw 8 pushesthe rear end 3 a of the card 3 by movement of the carriage 7, andforcibly discharges the card 3 so as to thrust it.

Additionally, although the carriage 7 is held by the rollers 33 so as tobe capable of sliding in the card forcible ejection mechanism 1illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 10, the present invention is not restrictedthereto, and a material with the excellent sliding property such aspolyacetal may be utilized as a slider without using the rotatingmembers such as the rollers 33 so that the carriage 7 can slide.Further, although the claw 8 is caused to protrude/retract by utilizingthe arm 35, the contact portion 26 and the impingement end 27 in thisembodiment, the present invention is not restricted thereto, and theclaw 8 may be caused to protrude/retract by using a cam provided to theguide rail 32.

1. A card forcible ejection mechanism which is provided to a card readerincluding a card carrying means for carrying a card inserted from a cardinsertion opening through a card carriage path, and forcibly dischargesthe card retained in the card carriage path, comprising: a carriagewhich moves along a carriage direction of the card and is providedseparately from the card carrying means; at least one claw provided tothe carriage and protrudes to or retracts from the card carriage path; acarriage moving means for moving the carriage to a claw retractingposition and a claw protruding position; and a claw protruding orretracting mechanism which retracts the claw from the card carriage pathwhen the carriage is placed at the claw retracting position andprotrudes the claw to the card carriage path when the carriage is placedat the claw protruding position; wherein the carriage moving means andthe card carrying means are provided with separate motors so that thecarriage, the carriage moving means, and the claw protruding orretracting mechanism are realized as a unit and attached to the cardreader; and, the motor of the carriage moving means operates thecarriage moving means to move the carriage from the claw retractingposition to the claw protruding position, resulting in the clawprotruding to the card carriage path so that the card retained in thecard carriage path is forcibly discharged.
 2. The card forcible ejectionmechanism according to claim 1, wherein the entire card forciblemechanism is realized as a unit and attached to the card reader.
 3. Thecard forcible ejection mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the cardcarrying means includes carriage rollers, and the entire card forcibleejection mechanism is accommodated between the carriage rollers adjacentto each other along the carriage direction.
 4. The card forcibleejection mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the mechanism furthercomprises a shutter which opens or closes the card insertion opening,the claw protruding position is arranged on the shutter side away fromthe claw retracting position, and the card is forcibly discharged onlywhen the shutter is in contact with the retained card and cannot beclosed.
 5. The card forcible discharge mechanism according to claim 4,wherein the claw retracted from the card carriage path and the shutterare separated from each other by a distance corresponding to a length ofat least one card in the carriage direction.